Acetylene-gas generator.



' Patented-Det. 3, 1899. `c. E. WAKE. CETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

(Application led Ia'y 22, 1899.)

(llo Ilqdsl.)

2 Sheets-Sheet L Ms! n c L1 4.1

wfgesa s Mmc? m. 634,075. Patented'ot. s, |399;

` v c. E. WAKE. K

ACETYLENE EAS GENERATOR.

(Applicnnn filed May 22, 1899.)

2 stieren-sheet 2.

(No Model.)

1N: onlus mns ce. wnumnm. nA a.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES n. WAKE, oFKIRw1N,- KANsAs,'AssreNon or ONE-HALF To .CARLTON s. INGERsoLL, on SAME rLAcn.

ACETYLEN E-GAS -GYEN ERATO R.

srncrnicarlolv forining part ofLetters Patent No. 634,075, dated october e, 189e.

Application tutti ray 22, v1399. serian. 717.730. dit man To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES E. WAKE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Kir- Win, in the county of'Phillips andy Stat-e of Kansas, have invented a new and useful' AcetyleneiG'as Generator, of which the following is a specification. Y.

My invention relates to improvements in acetylene-gas generators of that class Where'- in gas is produced by "a liquid attacking a solid, such as calcium carbid; and the objects in View are, first, to provideimproved means for regulating the admission of water to a generator` in arnanner which will Wholly obviate ooding of said generator on exhaustion of the carbid therein,'and,"secondly, to

provide improved vent devices operable to automaticallyperrnit the escape to A'the outside of a'. building ot the suplusvolume of gas contained in the oatable bell.

With these ends in view the invention conssts in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts,i which will be hereinafter fully 'described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspectiveV view looking at the' front sideof the'apparatus. Fig.' `2 isan'elevatio'n from'the rea'rside ot the apparatua'showing the vent devices.

Fig. 3`is a vertical section of the generator.

Fig. is an enlarged detail view of the water-valve devices. i Y

The salnefnumerals of reference are used to indicaterlike and corresponding parts in each of theseveraliguresof the drawings.

The generator510 'Kof my apparatus is constructed to'provide awater-seal'chamber 11, in which is immersed a gas-bell12, that is con'- Jned inv place' by a suitable form o clamp, (indicated at 13.) The water is supplied to this generator from an elevated tank 14: by means of a Water-pipe 15, and this water-pipe is providedv with a horizontal branch 16 between the two vertical end portions thereof.

One end of said water-pipe is extended downvwater contained in the tank 27.

i is united to the lower part of the elevated tank 14, all as clearly shown by Fig. 1. The horizontal part 16 of the Water-pipe is provided with the valves 17 18, which are spaced at a suitable distance from each other, and

these valves are operated by devices which will be hereinafter described to automatically open or close the valves simultaneously for Yregulating the admission of water to the generator.

The gas is conveyed from the generator by means of apipe 19, which has a vertical branch 20, that is carried or. extended through the seal-chamber 11 of the generator, and the eX- tremity of Ythis pipe-branch 2O opens into the upper part of the generator, so that the gas vwill pass from the latter through the branch 2Q, whereby the gas is partly cooled as it passes l'through'that part of the pipe which is inimer'sed in thewater contained in the sealchamber 1l of the generator. At the point where the pipes 19 20 meet each other they are united by a cross-coupling 21, and thisI coupling. has. a cock 21 attached thereto for the purpose of discharging any water of condensation which may accumulate in the pipes 19 'or-'20. The gas-pipe 19 is extended upwardly to the tank 14 for union with one end of the cooling-'coil 24, which is contained or 'immersed in the contents of said'tank, and from theother-end of this'coil 24c leads a pipe 25, which is conducted to the bottom ofthe gasorneter-tank 27 said pipe v25 having a branch Vpipe 26, which extends vertically through the A float-able gas-bell 28 is inverted into the Water-tank 27, and to this gas-bell is discharged the gas which passes through and is cooled bythe coil 24 and thence conveyed by the pipes 25 26 from said coil tothe bell v28. A trip-rod 29 is fastened in any suitable way to the head of the floatable bell 28, and at a point intermediate of its length this trip-rod is notched to form a shoulder 30.'

One of the valves in the branch 16 of the 9 IOC) `valve 18.

the valve to which it is attached, and its free upper end is formed or otherwise provided with a fork 33. The forked end of the lever is disposed in such relation to the trip-rod 29 as to receive the lever between the branches thereof, so that the trip-rod is slidably confined by the fork in operative relation to the weighted lever, andon the downward travel of the bell and the trip-rod therewith the shoulder of said rod is adapted to im pinge against one branch of the fork 33 for the purpose of moving the lever 31 against the ponderosity of` its weight, so as to open its valves more or less.

The two valves 17 18 are connected together for simultaneous operation by providing the arms 36 on the movable valve elements, and these arms are connected operatively by a link 37, which has its respective ends pivoted to the arms, whereby a movement of the valve 1'/ under the play of the lever 3l in either direction will actuate the link 37 to correspondingly move the other The employment of the two valves connected by the link for simultaneousoperation is an important feature of my invention, because the valves may be set or adj usted in such a way as to regulate to a nicety the volume of water which may flow through the pipe 15 1G to the generator, and the triprod and lever 31 provide an eflicient means by which a slight movement of the floatable bell 28 is communicated to the valves either to partly open the same, to fully open said valves to securea large supply of water to the generator, or to wholly cut off the water-supply. According to my invention I contemplate the adjustment of the valves so that one will be opened to a greater extent than the other, and thus the supply of water in the branch pipe 1G may be regulated within certain limits, according to the demands of the generator in the production of acetylene gas.

A vent-pipe 38 has one end coupled to the gas-pipe 25 26 by the union 38, (see Fig. 1,) while the other part of the Vent-pipe is carried or extended to the outside of the building. In this vent-pipe is provided a valve 39, to whichis attached an el bow-shaped lever 40, having one arm 41 thereof arranged to impinge against the service-pipe e6 in order to limit the movement of the lever in one direction when the valve is moved to its closed position. The other arm of this lever, which contr'ols the vent-valve, is provided with a longitudinal slot 42, and to the free extremity of said lever is connected a weight 43, which tends to move the lever normally to a position where the vent-valve closes the pipe 38, and the arm 4:1 abuts against the service-pipe 4G. Through the slot in the weighted arm of the lever passes a trip-rod 44E, which has its upper end fastened to the head of the floatable bell, and the lower end of said trip-rod is provided with an angular foot 45, which is adapted to bear against the lever for raising thcweighted arm thereof in order to open the vent-valve thereof when surplus lgas accumulates in the bell 28. The service-pipe 4G is provided with a branch which is carried through the body of water contained in the tank 27 in order to convey the gas from the gasometer to the burners. n n

In operation a carbid vessel containing a suitable supply of calcium carbid is placed in the generator and the bell thereof is closed and fastened in place, so that the bell is immersed in the seal 11 to minimize the escape of gas from the generator.` As the floatable bell settles in the tank the trip-rod moves downwardly therewith, and the shoulder 30 of said trip-rod impinges against one of `the branches of the fork 33, thereby turning the lever 31 and operating the valve 17 and link 37 so as to open the two valves 17 18. \Vater flows from the tank 14: through the pipe 15 16 to the generator to attack the carbid and produce acetylene gas, which iiows through the pipe 2O 19 to the cooling-coil 24 and thence through the pipe 25 2G to the fioatable bell. As the gas accumulates in the bell the latter is lifted to raise the trip-rod 29 and withdraw its shoulder from the lever 31, thus permitting K the weight to move said lever for the operation of the valves 17 18 in a manner to shut off the flow of water. Thisoperation is continued intermittently and automatically aocording to the consumption of gas at the burners; but when the carbid becomes exhausted the bell and the trip-rod continue to travel in a downward direction until the lever-fork will assume a position where it will slip clear of the shoulder 30 on said trip-rod, whereupon the weight of the lever acts to move the same to the position for closing the two valves, thus etfectually cutting off the supply of water and preventing the carbid from being iiooded by an encessive water-supply. The trip-rod 44, which operates the vent-valve lever, is free to travel with the gas-bell within certain limits and under normal conditions without permitting its foot 45 to operate the vent-valve; but the accumulation of an undesirable volume of gas within the bell 28 will lift the rod upwardly for the foot 45 to lift the lever 40 and open the vent-valve 39, thus permitting the gas to pass through the pipe 38 until the bell descends to a position which permits the foot 45 and lever 40 to close the valve 39.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to'without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. In an acetylene-gas apparatus, the combination with a generator and a water-supply pipe therefor, of the connected valves attached to said Water-supply pipe and adapted for simultaneous operation, a lever fast to one of said valves to normally move the same to closed position, and a trip-rod loosely movable against said lever for a portion of its IIO . multaneously operating both valves,a Weight length and having a shoulder arranged to strike the lever for positively moving the latf ter to a position for opening said valves.

2. In an acetylene-gas apparatus, the combination with aoatable bell, a generator, and a water-pipe to said generator, of the valves attached to said Water-pipe and provided with the arms, a link pivoted to said arms for sied lever attached to one-valve and having a fork at its free extremity, and a trip-rod connected to the bell and slidably tted in the fork of said lever, said trip-rod having a shoulder arranged to ride against the lever-fork to positively actnate the latter on the descent of the bell, substantially as described.

3. In an acetylene-gas apparatus, the conibination with a gasometer and a generator, of

bination with a gasometer having a servicepipe and a generator, of a vent-pipe provided with a valve, a double-armedlever attached to said valve for one arm thereof to impinge 'against the service-pipe and having the slot and weight on its other arm, and a trip-rod attachedto the bell and slidably fitted in the slotted arm of the lever, said trip-rod-having a foot to impinge against the lever, substantially as described.

5. In an acetylene-gas apparatus, the combination with a generator and a Water-supply pipe therefor, of valves attached to said snpply-pipe and adapted for simultaneous operation and provided With connected arms, a lever fast to one of said arms and having a weight at one extremity, and a trip-rod loosely movable against the opposite extremity of said lever and having a shoulder to strike ,the lever to move the latter and positively open the valve against the resistanceof the Weight. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

Y CHARLES E. WAKE. j Witnesses:

' C. W. HULL,

H. C. DUFF. 

